News briefs

No violence at home

Thanks to a generous donation from Robert C. Ortner W’49 and his wife, Evelyn Ortner, the School of Social Work now has an interdisciplinary program dedicated to domestic violence education, policy, practice and research.

The Evelyn Ortner-Unity Program in Family Violence creates a domestic violence resource library, a course in domestic violence open to graduate and undergrads, an annual lecture, a fellowship and a biennial domestic violence symposium.

Co-founder Robert Ortner was the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs from 1986 to 1989; Evelyn Ortner is the founder and executive director of The Unity Group, an advocacy group for battered women and children based in Millburn, N.J.

Room for ice cream

Penn Dining wants faculty and staff to save room for dessert. Now through July 31, patrons of Houston Market, located in the lower level of Houston Hall at 3417 Spruce St., will receive a free sundae with a $5 purchase. Penn employees only need to show a PennCard during the market’s operating hours—weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.—and then dig into the cool summer treat.

Objects of desire

Even if you’re a regular visitor to Penn Museum, there may still be a few stars of the collection you’ve missed. Now, you can see them all in one place, thanks to the Museum’s recent publication of a book showcasing 220 of its most extraordinary and rare artifacts.

“ Magnificent Objects,” a gorgeous full-color publication edited by Museum Senior Editor Jennifer Quick, took two years to produce and was conceived as a surprise tribute to Jeremy Sabloff, who stepped down as Museum director at the end of June.

The book includes some of the acknowledged “greatest hits,” like the 10-inch rock crystal in the Chinese Rotunda and the towering figure of Ramses II that dominates the Upper Egyptian Gallery.

It also includes delightful gems you might not have seen, such as a set of tiny gold pendants from a Museum dig in Panama and an illuminated page from the Qu’ran from 16th-century Iran.

Game time

A new Master’s program in Computer Graphics and Game Technology offered by the Department of Computer and Information Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences gives students the expertise they need to land at the forefront of the game technology industry.

Beginning this fall, the CGGT program will expose students to groundbreaking animation and graphics technologies, encourage entrepreneurial engineering skills and prepare them for careers in design, animation and game programming.

Penn Current Express

Quoted Recently

“More companies are asking how they can separate themselves from the organization and instead tighten their connection to the game. The brand of FIFA is problematic but the game of soccer is still popular.”

— Kenneth L. Shropshire, director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, on how the FIFA corruption scandal has caused some sponsors to be less concerned about partnering with the powerful soccer organization. FIFA tends to have the most leverage when negotiating deals with companies, but experts are wondering whether sponsors will be able to demand clauses that allow them to leave in cases of corruption. (The Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2015)